Sunday, September 27, 2009

Shrinking Violet - Legion of Super-Heroes

I have really got the Legion bug bad lately. I did this pencil sketch of Shrinking Violet (that would be Colossal Boy's hand) and thought I would ink and share it later. Instead I opted to share the pencils and if I ink it later I will post that as well. Or maybe I will paint this one. Can't decide.

Again I am dipping into the Cockrum designed costumes for this one. Still some of my favorite costumes for the Legion. Let's try something, if you post a comment and are a Legion fan, mention your favorite Legionnaire and why. My favorite changed from time to time, but I really liked Ultra Boy. When Jim Starlin did a run on the Legion, he did a story of Ultra Boy accused of murder. In it, Ultra Boy is fleeing from Superboy and Mon-El and he thinks to himself how intimidating it can be around those two. He has almost the same level of power, but can only use them one at a time and because of that he has to be smart. That shed a whole new light on him for me.

15 comments:

Gene, you know I'm a Legion fan, through and through! Strangely enough, I don't have a favorite Legionnaire-- they're like my children (which I have none!)... everyone is a favorite. Well, maybe Tyroc and Chemical King get a little less love, but...

BTW, Cockrum was definitely the master in costume design, especially with the ladies. But if you go back and look at your old Levitz/Giffen Legions (big YAY for the return of Paul as Legion scribe), those two devils took great love in shredding Cockrum's female costumes!

Both Saturn Girl and Shrinking Violet (who was actually Yera at that time) lost their suits in that asteroid accident in which Chameleon Boy was sent to prison for his actions. And Shadow Lass and Phantom Girl's clothes went to tatters fighting Darkseid's minions in the Great Darkness Saga. Luckily Shadow Lass had her powers to save her dignity (and the Comic Code).

Princess Projectra, Light Lass and Dawnstar (Mike Grell's baby) lost their costumes in various battles throughout the run also. Only Duo Damsel (who was retired, but got rid of the cape and go-go boots for a full-figure unitard) and Dream Girl managed to go unscathed.

Great start to a great finsh I predict. As far as faves go, I always liked Chameleon Boy as well as Braniac 5. Although most of the others were "aliens" from foreign worlds, they all looked just like Earthlings to me. Brainy and especially Cham looked exotic to my young eyes and made impressions as a result.

Hi Gene,Love the legion stuff you have been doing!! I own every legion book so saying I'm a fan is putting it mildly. I have always enjoyed commissions teaming Violet and Col. Boy...too cool. My favorite has always been Timber Wolf...why?? cuz he does so much with so little!1

Gene, I told you this at the Pittsburgh show...but my favorites were always Star Boy and Princess Projectra. Thom because I always loved his costume and because gravity control always seemed so, well different to me, at the time. Jeckie because I really dug the whole "future medieval" duality of her background. I even liked her when she was Sensor Girl! :D

Nice run down of the costumes Lud! I bow to your superior Legion Lore knowledge. :)

Royce - It's funny I don't remember Brainy ever being the subject of racial/alien discrimination but poor Cham sure was. Not just because he could change into anything, which caused distrust, but also because of his natural form. As it was before we learned that being yellow, pointy ears and antennae wasn't the real Durlan form. To think they picked that!

BrinLondo1972 - I knew your favorite as soon as I read your name. :) Timber Wolf never looked as good as when Cockrum drew him. Look at him in Superboy 197. Very cool!

Carlos - Star Boy had a great costume. As a kid drawing my own Legion comics, I hated his costume, but I loved looking at how Cockrum drew it. :) And Jeckie? Talk about someone who had a great power that wasn't realized till much later. Too bad she that during the Grell run, she seemed to always catch some fever or disease. Fun costume though.

Greybird - Dawny was a favorite of mine too. DC didn't have many (or any?) Native American based characters. Being Native American myself and being aware of it at a young age, I loved the introduction of Dawny. The fact that my favorite Legionnaire at the time, Wildfire, introduced her made it even better.

Michael - Poor Saturn Girl was regulated to being the cold witch for some of the Legion run. I guess it was the only way some old men knew how to write a strong female character. I have always liked her and felt that she was the rock of the Legion. Not Rokk, he was the heart. ;) And Lournu was great. One of my favorite stories that really showcased her personality was the first Mordru story by Shooter and Swan. Poor girl was so in love with Superboy, and knew nothing would come of it because she knew from history who he would marry. Lournu and Chuck made the cutest couple from the Legion in my opinion.

My favorite Legionnaire was always Sunboy, one of the few LoSH characters that Dave Cockrum didn't redesign.

Why is Dirk Morgna my fav'? Well, he's got great powers (that occasionally went crazy or stopped working - drama!), his own vengeance-seeking archenemy (Dr. Regulus - conflict!), and one of the few costumes cool enough that it didn't need to be redesigned (neat "futuristic" flared shoulder thingies! What the heck are those things called? They're not quite epaulets.)

Anyway, it's funny what can initially draw you to a character. I think I originally began paying attention to Dirk because of a comment in one of the earliest issues of LoSH I can remember reading. One of his team-mates commented that Dirk was among the Legion's finest cruiser pilots. That stuff seems really cool when you're 10 or 11 years old.

Vincent - Not to late at all. Well put too. Both Sun Boy and Element Lad joined the Legion with their own villains who were out to get them. And the costume has held up through the years. Seems it was the girls who's costumes reflected the styles of the day. Funny how it was a throw away line that made you think he was cool. Much like the comment I made about Ultra Boy. I did enjoy the 5 Years Later story. A lot of what was set up in the Levitz years was paid off. The only thing for me that I didn't like was some of the material was so Legion fandom/fanfic sourced, that it would come out of left field for me sometimes. It wasn't until later that I realized that some story and character points were fan speculations for years. Thanks for posting!